Capitola The Madcap by Emma D. E. N. Southworth

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CAPITOLA THE MADCAP

PART II OF

THE HIDDEN HAND

BY

MRS. EMMA D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. The Orphan's Trial II. Old Hurricane Storms III. Cap's Visit to the Hidden House IV. The Hidden Hollow V. The Hidden House VI. The Inmate of the Hidden House VII. Cap's Return VIII. Another Mystery at the Hidden House IX. Cap Frees the Captive X. Cap in Captivity XI. An Unexpected Visitor at Marsh's Cottage XII. Cap "Rests on her Laurels" and "Spoils for a Fight" XIII. Black Donald XIV. Glory XV. Cap Captivates a Craven XVI. Cap's Rage XVII. Capitola Caps the Climax XVIII. Black Donald's Last Attempt XIX. The Awful Peril of Capitola XX. The Next Morning XXI. A Fatal Hatred XXII. The Court-Martial XXIII. The Verdict XXIV. The End of the War XXV. The Fortunate Bath XXVI. The Mysterious Maniac XXVII. The Maniac's Story XXVIII. End of the Lady's Story XXIX. Prospects Brighten XXX. Capitola a Capitalist XXXI. "There shall be light at the eventide."--Holy Bible

CAPITOLA THE MADCAP SEQUEL TO THE HIDDEN HAND

CHAPTER I.

THE ORPHAN'S TRIAL

"We met ere yet the world had come To wither up the springs of youth, Amid the holy joys of home, And in the first warm blush of youth. We parted as they never part, Whose tears are doomed to be forgot; Oh, by what agony of heart. Forget me not!--forget me not!"

--Anonymous.

At nine o'clock the next morning Traverse went to the library tokeep his tryst with Colonel Le Noir.

Seated in the doctor's leathern chair, with his head thrown back,his nose erect and his white and jeweled hand caressing hismustached chin, the colonel awaited the young man's communication.

With a slight bow Traverse took a chair and drew it up to the table,seated himself and, after a little hesitation, commenced, and in amodest and self-respectful manner announced that he was charged withthe last verbal instructions from the doctor to the executor of hiswill.

Colonel Le Noir left off caressing his chin for an instant, and,with a wave of his dainty hand, silently intimated that the youngman should proceed.

Traverse then began and delivered the dying directions of the latedoctor, to the effect that his daughter Clara Day should not beremoved from the paternal mansion, but that she should be sufferedto remain there, retaining as a matronly companion her old friendMrs. Marah Rocke.

"Umm! umm! very ingenious, upon my word!" commented the colonel,still caressing his chin.

"I have now delivered my whole message, sir, and have only to addthat I hope, for Miss Day's sake, there will be no difficulty thrownin the way of the execution of her father's last wishes, which arealso, sir, very decidedly her own" said Traverse.

"Umm! doubtless they are--and also yours and your worthy mother's."

"Sir, Miss Day's will in this matter is certainly mine. Apart fromthe consideration of her pleasure, my wishes need not be consulted.As soon as I have seen Miss Day made comfortable I leave for the farWest," said Traverse, with much dignity.

"Umm! and leave mama here to guard the golden prize until yourreturn, eh?" sneered the colonel.

"Sir, I do not--wish to understand you," said Traverse with aflushed brow.

"Possibly not, my excellent young friend," said the colonel,ironically; then, rising from his chair and elevating his voice, hecried, "but I, sir, understand you and your mother and your prettyscheme perfectly! Very ingenious invention, these 'last verbalinstructions.' Very pretty plan to entrap an heiress; but it shallnot avail you, adventurers that you are! This afternoon Sauter, theconfidential attorney of my late brother-in-law, will be here withthe will, which shall be read in the presence of the assembledhousehold. If these last verbal directions are also to be foundduplicated in the will, very good, they shall be obeyed; if theynot, shall be discredited."

During this speech Traverse stood with kindling eyes and blazingcheeks, scarcely able to master his indignation; yet, to his creditbe it spoken, he did "rule his own spirit" and replied with dignityand calmness:

"Colonel Le Noir, my testimony in regard to the last wishes ofDoctor Day can, if necessary, be supported by other evidence--thoughI do not believe that any man who did not himself act in habitualdisregard of truth would wantonly question the veracity of another."

"Sir! this to me!" exclaimed Le Noir, growing white with rage andmaking a step toward the young man.

"Yes, Colonel Le Noir, that to you! And this in addition; You havepresumed to charge my mother, in connection with myself, with beingan adventuress; with forming dishonorable 'schemes,' and in socharging her, Colonel Le Noir, you utter a falsehood!"

"I am no brawler, Colonel Le Noir; the pistol and the bowie-knifeare as strange to my hands as abusive epithets and profane languageare to my lips; nevertheless, instead of retracting my words, Irepeat and reiterate them. If you charge my mother with conspiracyyou utter a falsehood. As her son I am in duty bound to say asmuch."

"Villain!" gasped Le Noir, shaking his fist and choking with rage;"villain! you shall repent this in every vein of your body!"

Then, seizing his hat, he strode from the room.

"Boaster!" said Traverse to himself, as he also left the library byanother door.

Clara was waiting for him in the little parlor below.

"Well, well, dear Traverse," she said, as he entered. "You have hadthe explanation with my guardian, and--he makes no objection tocarrying out the last directions of my father and our own wishes--heis willing to leave me here?"

"My dear girl, Colonel Le Noir defers all decision until the readingof the will, which is to take place this afternoon," said Traverse,unwilling to add to her distress by recounting the disgraceful scenethat had just taken place in the library.

"Oh! these delays! these delays! Heaven give me patience! Yet I donot know why I should be so uneasy. It is only a form; of course hewill regard my father's wishes."

"I do not see well how he can avoid doing so, especially as DoctorWilliams is another witness to them, and I shall request thedoctor's attendance here this afternoon. Dear Clara, keep up yourspirits! A few hours now and all will be well," said Traverse, as hedrew on his gloves and took his hat to go on his morning round ofcalls.

An early dinner was ordered, for the purpose of giving ample time inthe afternoon for the reading of the will.

Owing to the kind forbearance of each member of this little family,their meeting with their guest at the table was not so awkward as itmight have been rendered. Mrs. Rocke had concealed the insults thathad been offered her; Traverse had said nothing of the affronts putupon him. So that each, having only their own private injuries toresent, felt free in forbearing. Nothing but this sort of prudenceon the part of individuals rendered their meeting around one boardpossible.

While they were still at the table the attorney, Mr. Sauter, withDoctors Williams and Dawson, arrived, and was shown into thelibrary.

And very soon after the dessert was put upon the table the familyleft it and, accompanied by Colonel Le Noir, adjourned to thelibrary. After the usual salutations they arranged themselves alongeach side of an extension table, at the head of which the attorneyplaced himself.

In the midst of a profound silence the will was opened and read. Itwas dated three years before.

The bulk of his estate, after the paying a few legacies, was left tohis esteemed brother-in-law, Gabriel Le Noir, in trust for his onlydaughter, Clara Day, until the latter should attain the age oftwenty-one, at which period she was to come into possession of theproperty. Then followed the distribution of the legacies. Among therest the sum of a thousand dollars was left to his young friendTraverse Rocke, and another thousand to his esteemed neighbor MarahRocke. Gabriel Le Noir was appointed sole executor of the will,trustee of the property and guardian of the heiress.

At the conclusion of the reading Mr. Sauter folded the document andlaid it upon the table.

Colonel Le Noir arose and said:

"The will of the late Doctor Day has been read in your presence. Ipresume you all heard it, and that there can be no mistake as to itspurport. All that remains now is to act upon it. I shall claim theusual privilege of twelve months before administering upon theestate or paying the legacies. In the mean time, I shall assume thecharge of my ward's person, and convey her to my own residence,known as the Hidden House. Mrs. Rocke," he said, turning toward thelatter, "your presence and that of your young charge is no longerrequired here. Be so good as to prepare Miss Day's traveling trunks,as we set out from this place to-morrow morning."

Mrs. Rocke started, looked wistfully in the face of the speaker and,seeing that he was in determined earnest, turned her appealingglances toward Traverse and Doctor Williams.

As for Clara, her face, previously blanched with grief, was nowflushed with indignation. In her sudden distress and perplexity sheknew not at once what to do--whether to utter a protest or continuesilent; whether to leave the room or remain. Her embarrassment wasperceived by Traverse, who, stooping, whispered to her:

"Be calm, love; all shall be well. Doctor Williams is about tospeak."

And at that moment, indeed, Doctor Williams arose and said:

"I have, Colonel Le Noir to endorse a dying message from Doctor Dayentrusted to my young friend here to be delivered to you, to theeffect that it was his last desire and request that his daughter,Miss Clara Day, should be permitted to reside during the term of herminority in this her patrimonial home, under the care of her presentmatronly friend, Mrs. Marah Rocke, Doctor Rocke and myself are hereto bear testimony to these, the last wishes of the departed, whichwishes, I believe, also express the desires of his heiress."

"Oh, yes, yes!" said Clara, earnestly. "I do very much desire toremain in my own home, among my old familiar friends. My dear fatheronly consulted my comfort and happiness when he left theseinstructions."

"There can be, therefore, no reason why Miss Day should be disturbedin her present home," said Traverse.

Colonel Le Noir smiled grimly, saying:

"I am sorry, Doctor Williams, to differ with you or to distress MissDay. But if, as she says, her lamented father consulted her pleasurein those last instructions, he certainly consulted nothing else--notthe proprieties of conventionalism, the opinion of the world, northe future welfare of his daughter. Therefore, as a man of DoctorDay's high position and character in his sane moments never couldhave made such a singular arrangement, I am forced to the conclusionthat he could not, at the time of giving those instructions, havebeen in his right mind. Consequently, I cannot venture to act uponany 'verbal instructions,' however well attested, but shall beguided in every respect by the will, executed while yet the testatorwas in sound body and mind."

"Doctor Rocke and myself are both physicians competent to certifythat, at the time of leaving these directions, our respected friendwas perfectly sound in mind at least," said Doctor Williams.

"That, sir, I repeat, I contest. And, acting upon the authority ofthe will, I shall proceed to take charge of my ward as well as ofher estate. And as I think this house, under all the circumstances,a very improper place for her to remain, I shall convey her withoutdelay to my own home. Mrs. Rocke, I believe I requested you to seeto the packing of Miss Day's trunks."

"Oh, heaven! shall this wrong be permitted?" ejaculated Marah.

"Mrs. Rocke, I will not go unless absolutely forced to do so by adecree of the court. I shall get Doctor Williams to make an appealfor me to the Orphans' Court," said Clara, by way of encouraging herfriend.

"My dear Miss Day, that, I hope, will not be required. Colonel LeNoir acts under a misapprehension of the circumstances. We mustenter into more explanations with him, In the mean time, my dearyoung lady, it is better that you should obey him for the present,at least so far as retiring from the room," said Doctor Williams.

"I advised the retirement of the young lady, having a communicationto make the hearing of which in a mixed company might have cost heran innocent blush. But first I would ask you, Colonel Le Noir, whatare those circumstances to which you allude which render Miss Day'sresidence here, in her patrimonial mansion, with her old andfaithful friends, so improper?" inquired Doctor Williams,courteously.

"The growing intimacy, sir, between herself and a very objectionableparty--this young man Rocke!" replied Colonel Le Noir.

"Ah! and is that all?"

"It is enough, sir," said Colonel Le Noir, loftily.

"Then suppose I should inform you, sir, that this young man, DoctorRocke, was brought up and educated at Doctor Day's cost and underhis own immediate eye?"

"Then, sir, you would only inform me that an eccentric gentleman offortune had done--what eccentric gentlemen of fortune will sometimesdo--educated a pauper."

At this opprobrious epithet Traverse, with a flushed face, startedto his feet.

"Then, sir, I have the pleasure of startling you a little by aprodigy that you denominate an impossibility! Clara Day and TraverseRocke were betrothed with full knowledge and cordial approbation ofthe young lady's father."

"Impossible! preposterous! I shall countenance no such ridiculousabsurdity!" said Colonel Le Noir, growing red in the face.

"The young lady, and the young man are parties immediatelyconcerned--they cannot be received as witnesses in their own case;Mrs. Rocke is too much in their interest for her evidence to betaken; you, sir, I consider the dupe of these cunning conspirators--mother and son," replied Colonel Le Noir, firmly.

"Tut!" said Doctor Williams, almost out of patience. "I do notdepend upon the words of Miss Day and her friends, although I holdtheir veracity to be above question; I had Doctor Day's dying wordsto the same effect. And he mentioned the existing betrothal as thevery reason why Clara should remain here in the care of her futuremother-in-law."

"Then, sir, that the doctor should have spoken and acted thus, isonly another and a stronger reason for believing him to have beenderanged in his last moments! You need give yourself no farthertrouble! I shall act upon the authority of this instrument which Ihold in my hand," replied Colonel Le Noir, haughtily.

"Then, as the depository of the dying man's last wishes and as thenext friend of his injured daughter, I shall make an appeal to theOrphans' Court," said Doctor Williams, coldly.

"You can do as you please about that; but in the mean time, actingupon the authority of the will, I shall to-morrow morning set outwith my ward for my own home."

"There may be time to arrest that journey," said Doctor Williams,arising and taking his hat to go.

In the passage he met Mrs. Rocke.

"Dear Doctor Williams," said Mrs. Rocke, earnestly, "pray come up topoor Clara's room and speak to her, if you can possibly say anythingto comfort her; she is weeping herself into a fit of illness at thebare thought of being, so soon after her dreadful bereavement, tornaway from her home and friends."

"Tut! tut! no use in weeping! all will yet be right."

"You have persuaded that man to permit her to remain here, then?"said Marah, gladly.

"Persuaded him! no, nor even undertaken to do so! I never saw himbefore to-day, yet I would venture to say, from what I have now seenof him, that he never was persuaded by any agent except his ownpassions and interests, to any act whatever. No, I have endeavoredto show him that we have law as well as justice on our side, andeven now I am afraid I shall have to take the case before theOrphans' Court before I can convince him. He purposes removing Clarato-morrow morning. I will endeavor to see the Judge of the Orphans'Court to-night, take out a habeas corpus, ordering Le Noir to bringhis ward into court, and serve it on him as he passes throughStaunton on his way home."

"But is there no way of preventing him from taking Clara away fromthe house to-morrow morning."

"No good way. No, madam, it is best that all things should be donedecently and in order. I advise you, as I shall also advise my youngfriends, Traverse and Clara, not to injure their own cause by unwiseimpatience or opposition. We should go before the Orphans' Courtwith the very best aspect."

"Come, then, and talk to Clara. She has the most painful antipathyto the man who claims the custody of her person, as well as the mostdistressing reluctance to leaving her dear home and friends; and allthis, in addition to her recent heavy affliction, almost overwhelmsthe poor child," said Mrs. Rocke, weeping.

"I will go at once and do what I can to soothe her," said DoctorWilliams, following Mrs. Rocke, who led him up to Clara's room.

They found her prostrate upon her bed, crushed with grief.

"Come, come, my dear girl, this is too bad! It is not like the usualnoble fortitude of our Clara," said the old man, kindly taking herhand.

"Oh, Doctor, forgive--forgive me! but my courage must have been verysmall, for I fear it is all gone. But then, indeed, everything comeson me at once. My dear, dear father's death; then the approachingdeparture and expected long absence of Traverse! All that wasgrievous enough to bear; and now to be torn away from the home of mychildhood, and from the friend that has always been a mother to me,and by a man, from whom every true, good instinct of my natureteaches me to shrink. I, who have always had full liberty in thehouse of my dear father, to be forced away against my will by thisman, as if I were his slave!" exclaimed Clara, bursting into freshtears of indignation and grief.

"Clara, my dear, dear girl, this impatience and rebellion is sounlike your gentle nature that I can scarcely recognize you for themild and dignified daughter of my old friend. Clara, if the saintsin heaven could grieve at anything, I should think your dear fatherwould be grieved to see you thus!" said the old man in gentle rebukethat immediately took effect upon the meek and conscientious maiden.

"Oh! I feel--I feel that I am doing very wrong, but I cannot helpit. I scarcely know myself in this agony of mingled grief,indignation and terror--yes, terror--for every instinct of my natureteaches me to distrust and fear that man, in whom my father musthave been greatly deceived before he could have entrusted him withthe guardianship of his only child."

"I think that quite likely," said the old man; "yet, my dear, evenin respect to your dear father's memory, you must try to bear thistrial patiently."

"Oh, yes, I know I must. Dear father, if you can look down and seeme now, forgive your poor Clara, her anger and her impatience. Shewill try to be worthy of the rearing you have given her and to beareven this great trial with the spirit worthy of your daughter!" saidClara within her own heart; then, speaking up, she said: "You shallhave no more reason to reprove me, Doctor Williams."

"That is my brave girl! That is my dear Clara Day! And now, whenyour guardian directs you to prepare yourself for your journey, obeyhim--go with him without making any objection. I purpose to arrestyour journey at Staunton with a habeas corpus that he dare notresist, and which shall compel him to bring you into the Orphans'Court. There our side shall be heard, and the decision will restwith the judge."

"And all will be well! Oh, say that, sir! to give me the courage toact with becoming docility," pleaded Clara.

"I have not a doubt in this world that it will all be right, for,however Colonel Le Noir may choose to disregard the last wishes ofyour father, as attested by myself and young Rocke, I have not theleast idea that the judge will pass them over. On the contrary, Ifeel persuaded that he will confirm them by sending you back here toyour beloved home."

"Yes, yes, be cheerful, my dear; trust in Providence and expectnothing short of the best! And now I dare not tarry longer with you,for I must see the Judge at his house this night. Good-by, my dear;keep up a good heart!" said the old man, cheerfully, pressing herhand and taking his leave.

Mrs. Rocke accompanied him to the hall door.

"My dear madam, keep up your spirits also for the sake of your youngcharge! Make her go to bed early! To-morrow, when she thinks she isabout to be torn from you forever, remind her in her ear that Ishall meet the carriage at Staunton with a power that shall turn thehorses' heads."

And so saying, the worthy old gentleman departed.

As Marah Rocke looked after him, she also saw with alarm thatColonel Le Noir had mounted his horse and galloped off in thedirection of Staunton, as if impelled by the most urgent haste.

She returned to the bedside of Clara, and left her no more thatnight. As the colonel did not return to supper, they, the familyparty, had their tea in Clara's room.

Late at night Mrs. Rocke heard Colonel Le Noir come into the houseand enter his chamber.

Poor Clara slept no more that night; anxiety, despite of all herefforts, kept her wide awake. Yet, though anxious and wakeful, yetby prayer and endeavor she had brought her mind into a patient andsubmissive mood, so that when a servant knocked at her door in themorning with a message from Colonel Le Noir that she should be readyto set forth immediately after breakfast, she replied that sheshould obey him, and without delay she arose and commenced hertoilet.

All the family met for the last time around the board. The party wasconstrained. The meal was a gloomy one. On rising from the tableColonel Le Noir informed his ward that his traveling carriage waswaiting, and that her baggage was already on, and requested her toput on her bonnet and mantle, and take leave of her servants.

Clara turned to obey--Traverse went to her side and whispered:

"Take courage, dear love. My horse is saddled. I shall ride inattendance upon the carriage whether that man likes it or not; norlose sight of you for one moment until we meet Williams with hishabeas corpus."

"Nor even then, dear Traverse, nor even then! You will attend me tothe court and be ready to take me back to this dear, dear home!"murmured Clara in reply.

"Yes, yes, dear girl! There, be cheerful," whispered the young man,as he pressed her hand and released it.

Colonel Le Noir had been a silent but frowning spectator of thislittle scene, and now that Clara was leaving the room, attended byMrs. Rocke, he called the latter back, saying:

"You will be so kind as to stop here a moment, Mrs. Rocke and youalso, young man."

The mother and son paused to hear what he should have to say.

"I believe it is the custom here in discharging domestics to give amonth's warning, or in lieu of that, to pay a month's wages inadvance. There, woman, is the money. You will oblige me by leavingthe house to-day, together with your son and all your othertrumpery, as the premises are put in charge of an agent, who will behere this afternoon, clothed with authority to eject all loiterersand intruders."

While the colonel spoke Marah Rocke gazed at him in a panic fromwhich she seemed unable to rouse herself, until Traverse gravelytook her hand, saying:

"My dear mother, let me conduct you from the presence of this man,who does not know how to behave himself toward women. Leave me totalk with him, and do you, dear mother, go to Miss Day, who I knowis waiting for you."

Marah Rocke mechanically complied and allowed Traverse to lead herfrom the room.

When he returned he went up to Colonel Le Noir, and, standing beforehim and looking him full and sternly in the face, said, as sternly:

"Colonel Le Noir, my mother will remain here and abide the decisionof the Orphans' Court; until that has been pronounced, she does notstir at your or any man's bidding!"

"Villain, out of my way!" sneered Le Noir, endeavoring to pass him.

Traverse prevented him, saying:

"Sir, in consideration of your age, which should be venerable, yourposition which should prove you honorable, and of this sacred houseof mourning in which you stand, I have endeavored to meet all theinsults you have offered me with forbearance. But, sir, I am here todefend my mother's rights and to protect her from insult! And I tellyou plainly that you have affronted her for the very last time! Onemore word or look of insult leveled at Marah Rocke and neither yourage, position nor this sacred roof shall protect you from personalchastisement at the hands of her son!"

Le Noir, who had listened in angry scorn, with many an ejaculationof contempt, now at the conclusion which so galled his pride, brokeout furiously, with:

"Sir, you are a bully! If you were a gentleman I would call youout!"

"And I should not come if you did, sir! Dueling is unchristian,barbarous and abominable in the sight of God and all good men. Forthe rest you may call me anything you please; but do not againinsult my mother, for if you do I shall hold it a Christian duty toteach you better manners," said Traverse, coolly taking his hat andwalking from the room. He mounted his horse and stood ready toattend Clara to Staunton.

Colonel Le Noir ground his teeth in impotent rage, muttering;

"Take care, young man! I shall live to be revenged upon you yet forthese affronts!" and his dastard heart burned with the fiercermalignity that he had not dared to meet the eagle eye, or encounterthe strong arm of the upright and stalwart young man. Gnashing histeeth with ill-suppressed fury, he strode into the hall just as Mrs.Rocke and Clara, in her traveling dress, descended the stairs.

Clara threw her arms around Mrs. Rocke's neck, and, weeping, said:

"Good-by, dear, best friend--good-by! Heaven grant it may not be forlong! Oh, pray for me, that I may be sent back to you!"

"May the Lord have you in His holy keeping, my child I shall prayuntil I hear from you!" said Marah, kissing and releasing her.

Colonel Le Noir then took her by the hand, led her out, and put herinto the carriage.

Just before entering Clara had turned to take a last look at her oldhome--all, friends and servants, noticed the sorrowful, anxious,almost despairing look of her pale face, which seemed to ask:

In another instant she had disappeared within the carriage, whichimmediately rolled off.

As the carriage was heavily laden, and the road was in a very badcondition, it was a full hour before they reached the town ofStaunton. As the carriage drew up for a few moments before the doorof the principal hotel, and Colonel Le Noir was in the act ofstepping out, a sheriff's officer, accompanied by Dr. Williams,approached, and served upon the colonel a writ of habeas corpus,commanding him to bring his ward, Clara Day, into court.

Colonel Le Noir laughed scornfully, saying:

"And do any of you imagine this will serve your purposes? Ha, ha!The most that it can do will be to delay my journey for a few hoursuntil the decision of the judge, which will only serve to confirm myauthority beyond all future possibility of questioning,"

And now, reader, I will not trouble you with a detailed account ofthis trial. Clara, clothed in deep mourning, and looking pale andterrified, was led into the court room on the arm of her guardian.She was followed closely by her friends, Traverse Rocke and DoctorWilliams, each of whom whispered encouraging words to the orphan.

As the court had no pressing business on its hands, the case wasimmediately taken up, the will was read and attested by the attorneywho had drawn it up and the witnesses who had signed it. Then theevidence of Doctor Williams and Doctor Rocke was taken concerningthe last verbal instruction of the deceased. The case occupied aboutthree hours, at the end of which the judge gave a decision in favorof Colonel Le Noir.

This judgment carried consternation to the heart of Clara and of allher friends.

Clara herself sank fainting in the arms of her old friend, thevenerable Doctor Williams.

Traverse, in bitterness of spirit, approached and bent over her.

Colonel Le Noir spoke to the judge.

"I deeply thank your honor for the prompt hearing and equally promptdecision of this case, and I will beg your honor to order theSheriff and his officers to see your judgment carried into effect,as I foresee violent opposition, and wish to prevent trouble."

"Certainly. Mr. Sheriff, you will see that Colonel Le Noir is put inpossession of his ward, and protected in that right until he shallhave placed her in security," said the judge.

Clara, on hearing these words, lifted her head from the old man'sbosom, nerved her gentle heart, and in a clear, sweet, steady voicesaid:

"It is needless precaution, your honor; my friends are no law-breakers, and since the court has given me into the custody of myguardian, I do not dispute its judgment. I yield myself up toColonel Le Noir."

"You do well, young lady," said the judge.

"I am pleased, Miss Day, to see that you understand and perform yourduty; believe me, I shall do all that I can to make you happy," saidColonel Le Noir.

Clara replied by a gentle nod, and then, with a slight blushmantling her pure cheeks she advanced a step and placed herselfimmediately in front of the judge, saying:

"But there is a word that I would speak to your honor."

"Say on, young lady," said the judge.

And as she stood there in her deep mourning dress, with her fairhair unbound and floating softly around her pale, sweet face, everyeye in that court was spellbound by her almost unearthly beauty.Before proceeding with what she was about to say, she turned uponTraverse a look that brought him immediately to her side.

"Your honor," she began, in a low, sweet, clear tone, "I owe it toDoctor Rocke here present, who has been sadly misrepresented to you,to say (what, under less serious circumstances, my girl's heartwould shrink from avowing so publicly) that I am his betrothed wife--sacredly betrothed to him by almost the last act of my dearfather's life. I hold this engagement to be so holy that no earthlytribunal can break or disturb it. And while I bend to your honor'sdecision, and yield myself to the custody of my legal guardian forthe period of my minority, I here declare to all who may beinterested, that I hold my hand and heart irrevocably pledged toDoctor Rocke, and that, as his betrothed wife, I shall considermyself bound to correspond with him regularly, and to receive him asoften as he shall seek my society, until my majority, when I and allthat I possess will become his own. And these words I force myselfto speak, your honor, both in justice to my dear lost father and hisfriend, Traverse Rocke, and also to myself, that hereafter no onemay venture to accuse me of clandestine proceedings, or distort myactions into improprieties, or in any manner call in question theconduct of my father's daughter." And, with another gentle bow,Clara retired to the side of her old friend.

"You are likely to have a troublesome charge in your ward," said thesheriff apart to the colonel, who shrugged his shoulders by way ofreply.

The heart of Traverse was torn by many conflicting passions,emotions and impulses; there was indignation at the decision of thecourt; grief for the loss of Clara, and dread for her future!

One instant he felt a temptation to denounce the guardian as avillain and to charge the judge with being a corrupt politician,whose decisions were swayed by party interests!

The next moment he felt an impulse to catch Clara up in his arms,fight his way through the crowd and carry her off! But all thesewild emotions, passions and impulses he succeeded in controlling.

Too well he knew that to rage, do violence, or commit extravaganceas he might, the law would take its course all the same.

While his heart was torn in this manner, Colonel Le Noir was urgingthe departure of his ward. And Clara came to her lover's side andsaid, gravely and sweetly:

"The law, you see, has decided against us, dear Traverse! Let usbend gracefully to a decree that we cannot annul! It cannot, atleast, alter our sacred relations; nor can anything on earth shakeour steadfast faith in each other; let us take comfort in that, andin the thought that the years will surely roll round at length andbring the time that shall reunite us."

"You will gain firmness, dear Traverse. 'Patient!' I patient! Youshould have heard me last night! I was so impatient that DoctorWilliams had to lecture me. But it would be strange if one did notlearn something by suffering. I have been trying all night and dayto school my heart to submission, and I hope I have succeeded,Traverse. Bless me and bid me good-by."

"The Lord forever bless and keep you, my own dear angel, Clara!"burst from the lips of Traverse. "The Lord abundantly bless you!"

"And you," said Clara.

"Good-by!--good-by!"

"Good-by!"

And thus they parted.

Clara was hurried away and put into the carriage by her guardian.

Ah, no one but the Lord knew how much it had-cost that poor girl tomaintain her fortitude during that trying scene. She had controlledherself for the sake of her friends. But now, when she found herselfin the carriage, her long strained nerves gave way--she sankexhausted and prostrated into the corner of her seat, in the uttercollapse of woe!

But leaving the travelers to pursue their journey, we must go backto Traverse.

Almost broken-hearted, Traverse returned to Willow Heights to conveythe sad tidings of his disappointment to his mother's ear.

Marah Rocke was so overwhelmed with grief at the news that she wasfor several hours incapable of action.

The arrival of the house agent was the first event that recalled herto her senses.

She aroused herself to action, and, assisted by Traverse, set towork to pack up her own and his wardrobe and other personal effects.

And the next morning Marah Rocke was re-established in her cottage.

And the next week, having equally divided their little capital, themother and son parted--Traverse, by her express desire, keeping tohis original plan, set out for the far West.

CHAPTER II.

OLD HURRICANE STORMS.

"At this sir knight flamed up with ire! His great chest heaved! his eyes flashed fire. The crimson that suffused his face To deepest purple now gave place."

Who can describe the frenzy of Old Hurricane upon discovering thefraud that had been practised upon him by Black Donald?

It was told him the next morning in his tent, at his breakfasttable, in the presence of his assembled family, by the Rev Mr.Goodwin.

Upon first hearing it, he was incapable of anything but blankstaring, until it seemed as though his eyes must start from theirsockets!

Then his passion, "not loud but deep," found utterance only inemphatic thumps of his walking stick upon the ground!

Then, as the huge emotion worked upward, it broke out in grunts,groans and inarticulate exclamations!

Finally it burst forth as follows:

"Ugh! ugh! ugh! Fool! dolt! blockhead! Brute that I've been! I wishsomebody would punch my wooden head! I didn't think the demonhimself could have deceived me so! Ugh! Nobody but the demon couldhave done it! and he is the demon! The very demon himself! He doesnot disguise--he transforms himself! Ugh! ugh! ugh! that I shouldhave been such a donkey!"

"Sir, compose yourself! We are all liable to suffer deception," saidMr. Goodwin.

"Believing him to be what he seemed, sir, you extended to him therights of hospitality; you have nothing to blame yourself with!"

"Demmy, sir, I did more than that! I've coddled him up withnegusses! I've pampered him up with possets and put him to sleep inmy own bed! Yes, sir--and more! Look there at Mrs. Condiment, sir!The way in which she worshiped that villain was a sight to behold!"said Old Hurricane, jumping up and stamping around the tent in fury.

"Oh, Mr. Goodwin, sir, how could I help it when I thought he wassuch a precious saint?" whimpered the old lady.

"Yes, sir! when 'his reverence' would be tired with delivering along-winded mid-day discourse, Mrs. Condiment, sir, would take himinto her own tent--make him lie down on her own sacred cot, and setmy niece to bathing his head with cologne and her maid to fanninghim, while she herself prepared an iced sherry cobbler for hisreverence! Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Mrs. Condiment, mum!"said Old Hurricane, suddenly stopping before the poor old woman, inangry scorn.

"Indeed, I'm sure if I'd known it was Black Donald, I'd no more havesuffered him inside of my tent than I would Satan!"

"Demmy, mum, you had Satan there as well! Who but Satan could havetempted you all to disregard me, your lawful lord and master, as youevery one of you did for that wretch's sake! Hang it, parson, Iwasn't the master of my own house, nor head of my own family!Precious Father Gray was! Black Donald was! Oh, you shall hear!"cried Old Hurricane, in a frenzy.

"Pray, sir, be patient and do not blame the women for being no wiserthan you were yourself," said Mr. Goodwin.

"Tah! tah! tah! One act of folly is a contingency to which any manmay for once in his life be liable; but folly is the women's normalcondition! You shall hear! You shall hear! Hang it, sir, everybodyhad to give way to Father Gray! Everything was for Father Gray!Precious Father Gray! Excellent Father Gray! Saintly Father Gray! Itwas Father Gray here and Father Gray there, and Father Grayeverywhere and always! He ate with us all day and slept with us allnight! The coolest cot in the dryest nook of the tent at night--theshadiest seat at the table by day--were always for his reverence!The nicest tit-bits of the choicest dishes--the middle slices of thefish, the breast of the young ducks, and the wings of the chickens,the mealiest potatoes, the juiciest tomatoes, the tenderest roastingear, the most delicate custard, and freshest fruit always for hisreverence! I had to put up with the necks of poultry, and the tailsof fishes, watery potatoes, specked apples and scorched custards--and if I dared to touch anything better before his preciousreverence had eaten and was filled, Mrs. Condiment there--would lookas sour as if she had bitten an unripe lemon--and Cap would tread onmy gouty toe! Mrs. Condiment, mum, I don't know how you can look mein the face!" said Old Hurricane, savagely. A very unnecessaryreproach, since poor Mrs. Condiment had not ventured to look any onein the face since the discovery of the fraud of which she, as wellas others, had been an innocent victim.

"Come, come, my dear major, there is no harm done to you or yourfamily; therefore, take patience!" said Mr. Goodwin.

"Demmy, sir, I beg you pardon, parson, I won't take patience! Youdon't know! Hang it, man, at last they got me to give up one-half ofmy own blessed bed to his precious reverence--the best half whichthe fellow always took right out of the middle, leaving me to sleepon both sides of him, if I could! Think of it--me, Ira Warfield--sleeping between the sheets--night after night--with Black Donald!Ugh! ugh! ugh! Oh, for some lethean draught that I might drink andforget! Sir, I won't be patient! Patience would be a sin! Mrs.Condiment, mum, I desire that you will send in your account andsupply yourself with a new situation! You and I cannot agree anylonger. You'll be putting me to bed with Beelzebub next!" exclaimedOld Hurricane, besides himself with indignation.

Mrs. Condiment sighed and wiped her eyes under her spectacles.

The worthy minister, now seriously alarmed, came to him and said:

"My dear, dear major, do not be unjust--consider. She is an oldfaithful domestic, who has been in your service forty years--whomyou could not live without! I say it under advisement--whom youcould not live without!"

"Hang it, sir, nor live with! Think of her helping to free theprisoners! Actually taking Black Donald--precious Father Gray!--intotheir cell and leaving them together to hatch their--beg you pardon--horrid plots!"

"But, sir, instead of punishing the innocent victim of hisdeception, let us be merciful and thank the Lord, that since thosemen were delivered from prison, they were freed without bloodshed;for remember that neither the warden nor any of his men, nor any oneelse has been personally injured,"

"Hang it, sir, I wish they had cut all our throats to teach us morediscretion!" broke forth Old Hurricane.

"I am afraid that the lesson so taught would have come too late tobe useful!" smiled the pastor.

"Well, it hasn't come too late now! Mrs. Condiment, mum, mind what Itell you! As soon as we return to Hurricane Hall, send in youraccounts and seek a new home! I am not going to suffer myself to beset at naught any longer!" exclaimed Old Hurricane, bringing downhis cane with an emphatic thump.

The sorely troubled minister was again about to interfere, when, asthe worm if trodden upon, will turn, Mrs. Condiment herself spokeup, saying:

"Lor, Major Warfield, sir, there were others deceived besides me,and as for myself, I never can think of the risk I've run withoutgrowing cold all over!"

"Serves you right, mum, for your officiousness, and obsequiousnessand toadying to--precious Mr. Gray!--serves you doubly right forfamishing me at my own table!"

"Uncle!" said Capitola, "'Honor bright! Fair play is a jewel! If youand I, who have seen Black Donald before, failed to recognize thatstalwart athlete in a seemingly old and sickly man, how could youexpect Mrs. Condiment to do so, who never saw him but once in herlife, and then was so much frightened that she instantly fainted?"

"Pah! pah! pah! Cap, hush! You, all of you, disgust me, except BlackDonald! I begin to respect him! Confound if I don't take in all theoffers I have made for his apprehension, and at the very nextconvention of our party I'll nominate him to represent us in theNational Congress; for, of all the fools that ever I have met in mylife, the people of this county are the greatest! And fools shouldat least be represented by one clever man--and Black Donald is thevery fellow! He is decidedly the ablest man in this congressionaldistrict."

"Except yourself, dear uncle!" said Capitola.

"Except nobody, Miss Impudence!--least of all me! The experience ofthe last week has convinced me that I ought to have a cap and bellsawarded me by public acclamation!" said Old Hurricane, stampingabout in fury.

The good minister finding that he could make no sort of impressionupon the irate old man, soon took his leave, telling Mrs. Condimentthat if he could be of any service to her in her trouble she must besure to let him know.

At this Capitola and Mrs. Condiment exchanged looks, and the oldlady, thanking him for his kindness, said that if it should becomenecessary, she should gratefully avail herself of it.

That day the camp meeting broke up.

Major Warfield struck tents and with his family and baggage returnedto Hurricane Hall.

On their arrival, each member of the party went about his or her ownparticular business.

Capitola hurried to her own room to take off her bonnet and shawl.Pitapat, before attending her young mistress, lingered below toastonish the housemaids with accounts of "Brack Donel, dress up likean ole parson, an' 'ceiving everybody, even ole Marse!"

Mrs. Condiment went to her store room to inspect the condition ofher newly put up preserves and pickles, lest any of them should have"worked" during her absence.

And Old Hurricane, attended by Wool, walked down to his kennels andhis stables to look after the well-being of his favorite hounds andhorses. It was while going through this interesting investigationthat Major Warfield was informed--principally by overhearing thegossip of the grooms with Wool--of the appearance of a new inmate ofthe Hidden House--a young girl, who, according to their description,must have been the very pearl of beauty.

Old Hurricane pricked up his ears! Anything relating to the "HiddenHouse" possessed immense interest for him.

"Who is she, John?" he inquired of the groom.

"Deed I dunno, sir, only they say she's a bootiful young creature,fair as any lily, and dressed in deep mourning."

"Why, Marse, you see Tom Griffith, the Rev. Mr. Goodwill's man, he'svery thick long of Davy Hughs, Colonel Le Noir's coachman. And Davyhe told Tom how one day last month his marse ordered the carriage,and went two or three days' journey up the country beyant Staunton,there he stayed a week and then came home, fetching along with himin the carriage this lovely young lady, who was dressed in thedeepest mourning, and wept all the way. They 'spects how she's anorphan, and has lost all her friends, by the way she takes on."

"Another victim! My life on it--another victim! Poor child! She hadbetter be dead than in the power of that atrocious villain andconsummate hypocrite!" said Old Hurricane, passing on to theexamination of his favorite horses, one of which, the swiftest inthe stud, he found galled on the shoulders. Whereupon he flew into atowering passion, abusing his unfortunate groom by every opprobriousepithet blind fury could suggest, ordering him, as he valued wholebones, to vacate the stable instantly, and never dare to set foot onhis premises again as he valued his life, an order which the manmeekly accepted and immediately disobeyed, muttered to himself:

"Humph! If we took ole marse at his word, there'd never be man or'oman left on the 'state," knowing full well that his tempestuousold master would probably forget all about it, as soon as he gotcomfortably seated at the supper table of Hurricane Hall, towardwhich the old man now trotted off.

Not a word did Major Warfield say at supper in regard to the newinmate of the Hidden House, for he had particular reasons forkeeping Cap in ignorance of a neighbor, lest she should insist uponexchanging visits and being "sociable."

But it was destined that Capitola should not remain a day inignorance of the interesting fact.

That night, when she retired to her chamber, Pitapat lingeredbehind, but presently appeared at her young mistress's room doorwith a large waiter on her head, laden with meat, pastry, jelly andfruit, which she brought in and placed upon the work stand.

"Why, what on the face of earth do you mean by bringing all thatload of victuals into my room to-night? Do you think I am an ostrichor a cormorant, or that I am going to entertain a party of friends?"asked Capitola, in astonishment, turning from the wash stand, whereshe stood bathing her face.

"'Deed I dunno, Miss, whedder you'se an ostrizant or not, but Iknows I don't 'tend for to be 'bused any more 'bout wittels, arterfindin' out how cross empty people can be! Dar dey is! You can eatum or leab um alone, Miss Caterpillar!" said little Pitapat, firmly.

Capitola laughed, "Patty" she said, "you are worthy to be called mywaiting maid!"

"And Lors knows, Miss Caterpillar, if it was de wittels you was a-frettin' arter, you ought to a-told me before! Lors knows dere'swittels enough!"

"Yes, I'm much obliged to you, Patty, but now I am not hungry, and Ido not like the smell of food in my bedroom,, so take the waiter outand set it on the passage table until morning."

Patty obeyed, and came back smiling and saying:

"Miss Caterpillar, has you hern de news?"

"What news, Pat?"

"How us has got a new neighbor--a bootiful young gal--as bootiful asa picter in a gilt-edged Christmas book--wid a snowy skin, and sky-blue eyes and glistenin' goldy hair, like the princess you was areadin' me about, all in deep mournin' and a weepin' and a weepin'all alone down there in that wicked, lonesome, onlawful ole hauntedplace, the Hidden House, along of old Colonel Le Noir and old DorkeyKnight, and the ghost as draws people's curtains of a night, justfor all de worl' like dat same princess in de ogre's castle!"

"What on earth is all this rigmarole about? Are you dreaming orromancing?"

"I'm a-telling on you de bressed trufe! Dere's a young lady a-livin'at de Hidden House!"

"Eh? Is that really true, Patty?"

"True as preaching, miss."

"Then, I am very glad of it! I shall certainly ride over and call onthe stranger," said Capitola, gaily.

"Oh, Miss Cap! Oh, miss, don't you do no sich thing! Ole Marse killme! I heerd him t'reaten all de men and maids how if dey telled youanything 'bout de new neighbor, how he'd skin dem alive!"

"Won't he skin you?" asked Cap.

"No, miss, not 'less you 'form ag'in me, 'case he 'didn't tell menot to tell you, 'case you see he didn't think how I knowed! But,leastways, I know from what I heard, ole marse wouldn't have you toknow nothin' about it, no, not for de whole worl'."

"He does not want me to call at the Hidden House! That's it! Now whydoesn't he wish me to call there? I shall have to go in order tofind out, and so I will," thought Cap

CHAPTER III.

CAP'S VISIT TO THE HIDDEN HOUSE

And such a night "she" took the road in As ne'er poor sinner was abroad in. The wind blew as 'twad blawn its last The rattling showers rose on the blast; The speedy gleams the darkness swallowed Loud, deep and long the thunder bellowed; That night a child might understand The de'il had business on his hand.

--BURNS.

A week passed before Capitola carried her resolution of calling uponthe inmate of the Hidden House into effect. It was in fact a hot,dry, oppressive season, the last few days of August, when allpeople, even the restless Capitola, preferred the coolness andrepose of indoors. But that she should stay at home more than a weekwas a moral and physical impossibility. So on Thursday afternoon,when Major Warfield set out on horseback to visit his mill, Capitolaordered her horse saddled and brought up that she might take anafternoon's ride.

"Storm, Mrs. Condiment, why bless your dear old heart, there has notbeen a storm these four weeks!" said Capitola, almost indignant thatsuch an absurd objection to a long ride should be raised.

"The more reason, my child, that we should have a very severe onewhen it does come, and I think it will be upon us before sunset; soI advise you to hurry home."

"Why, Mrs. Condiment, there's not a cloud in the sky."

"So much the worse, my dear! The blackest cloud that ever gatheredis not so ominous of mischief as this dull, coppery sky and stillatmosphere! And if forty years' observation of weather signs goesfor anything, I tell you that we are going to have the awfuleststorm that ever gathered in the heavens! Why, look out of thatwindow--the very birds and beasts know it, and instinctively seekshelter--look at that flock of crows flying home! See how the dumbbeasts come trooping toward their sheds! Capitola, you had bettergive up going altogether, my dear! "

"There! I thought all this talk tended to keeping me within doors,but I can't stay, Mrs. Condiment! Good Mrs. Condiment, I can't!"

"But, my dear, if you should be caught out in the storm!"

"Why, I don't know but I should like it! What harm could it do? I'mnot soluble in water--rain won't melt me away! I think upon thewhole I rather prefer being caught in the storm," said Cap,perversely.

"Well, well, there is no need of that! You may ride as far as theriver's bank and back again in time to escape, if you choose!" saidMrs. Condiment, who saw that her troublesome charge was bent uponthe frolic.

And Cap, seeing her horse approach, led by one of the grooms, ranup-stairs, donned her riding habit, hat and gloves, ran down again,sprang into her saddle and was off, galloping away toward the riverbefore Mrs. Condiment could add another word of warning.

She had been gone about an hour, when the sky suddenly darkened, thewind rose and the thunder rolled in prelude to the storm.

Major Warfield came skurrying home from the mill, grasping hisbridle with one hand and holding his hat on with the other.

Meeting poor old Ezy in the shrubbery, he stormed out upon him with:

"What are you lounging there for, you old idiot! You old sky-gazinglunatic! Don't you see that we are going to have an awful blow!Begone with you and see that the cattle are all under shelter! Off,I say, or," he rode toward Bill Ezy, but the old man, exclaiming:

"Yes, sir--yes, sir! In coorse, sir!" ducked his head and ran off ingood time.

Major Warfield quickened his horse's steps and rode to the house,dismounted and threw the reins to the stable boy, exclaiming:

"My beast is dripping with perspiration--rub him down well youknave, or I'll impale you!"

Striding into the hall, he threw down his riding whip, pulled offhis gloves and called:

"Wool! Wool, you scoundrel, close every door and window in thehouse! Call all the servants together in the dining-room; we'regoing to have one of the worst tempests that ever raised!"

Wool flew to do his bidding.

"Mrs. Condiment, mum," said the old man, striding into the sitting-room, "Mrs. Condiment, mum, tell Miss Black to come down from herroom until the storm is over; the upper chambers of this old houseare not safe in a tempest. Well, mum, why don't you go, or sendPitapat?"

"Major Warfield, sir, I'm very sorry, but Miss Black has not come inyet," said Mrs. Condiment, who for the last half hour had sufferedextreme anxiety upon account of Capitola.

"Not come in yet! Demmy, mum! Do you tell me she has gone out?"cried Old Hurricane, in a voice of thunder, gathering his brows intoa dark frown, and striking his cane angrily upon the floor.

"Yes, sir, I am sorry to say she rode out about an hour ago and hasnot returned," said Mrs. Condiment, summoning all her firmness tomeet Old Hurricane's "roused wrath."

"Ma'am! You venture to stand there before my face and tell mecomposedly that you permitted Miss Black to go off alone in the faceof such a storm as this?" roared Old Hurricane.

"Sir, I could not help it!" said the old lady.

"Demmy, mum! You should have helped it! A woman of your age to standthere and tell me that she could not prevent a young creature likeCapitola from going out alone in the storm!"

"Major Warfield, could you have done it?"

"Me? Demmy, I should think so; but that is not the question! You--"

He was interrupted by a blinding flash of lightning, followedimmediately by an awful peal of thunder and a sudden fall of rain.

Old Hurricane sprang up as though he had been shot off his chair andtrotted up and down the floor exclaiming:

"And she--she out in all this storm! Mrs. Condiment, mum, youdeserve to be ducked! Yes, mum, you do! Wool! Wool! you diabolicalvillain!"

"Yes, marse, yes, sir, here I is!" exclaimed that officer, intrepidation, as he appeared in the doorway. "De windows and doors,sir, is all fastened close and de maids are all in the dining-roomas you ordered, and--"

"Hang the maids and the doors and windows, too! Who the demon caresabout them? How dared you, you knave, permit your young mistress toride, unattended, in the face of such a storm, too! Why didn't yougo with her, sir?"

"'Deed, marse--"

"Don't ''deed marse' me you atrocious villain! Saddle a horsequickly, inquire which road your mistress took and follow and attendher home safely--after which I intend to break every bone in yourskin, sirrah! So--"

Again he was interrupted by a dazzling flash of lightning,accompanied by a deafening roll of thunder, and followed by a floodof rain.

Wool stood appalled at the prospect of turning out in such a stormupon such a fruitless errand.

"Oh, you may stare and roll up your eyes, but I mean it, you varlet!So be off with you! Go! I don't care if you should be drowned in therain, or blown off the horse, or struck by lightning. I hope you maybe; you knave, and I shall be rid of one villain! Off, you varlet,or--" Old Hurricane lifted a bronze statuette to hurl at Wool'sdelinquent head, but that functionary dodged and ran out in time toescape a blow that might have put a period to his mortal career.

But let no one suppose that honest Wool took the road that night! Hesimply ran down-stairs and hid himself comfortably in the lowestregions of the house, there to tarry until the storms, social andatmospheric, should be over,

Meanwhile the night deepened, the storm raged without and OldHurricane raged within!

The lightning flashed, blaze upon blaze, with blinding glare! Thethunder broke, crash upon crash, with deafening roar! The windgathering all its force cannonaded the old walls as though it wouldbatter down the house! The rain fell in floods! In the midst of allthe Demon's Run, swollen to a torrent, was heard like the voice of a"roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour!"

Old Hurricane strode up and down the floor, groaning, swearing,threatening, and at every fresh blast of the storm without, breakingforth into fury!

Mrs. Condiment sat crouched in a corner, praying fervently everytime the lightning blazed into the room, longing to go and join themen and maids in the next apartment, yet fearful to stir from herseat lest she should attract Old Hurricane's attention, and drawdown upon herself the more terrible thunder and lightning of hiswrath. But to escape Old Hurricane's violence was not in the powerof mortal man or woman. Soon her very stillness exasperated him andhe broke forth upon her with:

"Mrs. Condiment, mum, I don't know how you can bear to sit there soquietly and listen to this storm, knowing that the poor child isexposed to it?"

"Major Warfield, would it do any good for me to jump up and trot upand down the floor and go on as you do, even supposing I had thestrength?" inquired the meek old lady, thoroughly provoked at hisinjustice!

"I'd like to see you show a little more feeling! You are a perfectbarbarian! Oh, Cap! my darling, where are you now? Heavens! what ablast was that! Enough to shake the house about our ears! I wish itwould! blamed if I don't!"

"Oh, Major! Major! don't say such awful things, nor make such awfulwishes!" said the appalled old lady--"you don't know what you mightbring down upon us!"

"No, nor care! If the old house should tumble in, it would buryunder its ruins a precious lot of good-for-nothing people, unfit tolive! Heavens! what a flash of lightning! Oh, Cap, Cap, my darling,where are you in this storm? Mrs. Condiment, mum! if any harm comesto Capitola this night, I'll have you indicted for manslaughter!"

"Major Warfield, if it is all on Miss Black's account that you areraving and raging so, I think it is quite vain of you! for any youngwoman caught out in a storm would know enough to get into shelter;especially would Miss Black, who is a young lady of great courageand presence of mind, as we know. She has surely gone into somehouse, to remain until the storm is over," said Mrs. Condiment,soothingly.

This speech, so well intended, exasperated Old Hurricane more thanall the rest; stopping and striking his cane upon the floor, heroared forth:

"Hang it, mum! hold your foolish old tongue! You know nothing aboutit! Capitola is exposed to more serious dangers than the elements!Perils of all sorts surround her! She should never, rain or shine,go out alone! Oh, the little villain! the little wretch! the littledemon! if ever I get her safe in this house again, won't I lock herup and keep her on bread and water until she learns to behaveherself!"

Here again a blinding flash of lightning, a deafening peal ofthunder, a terrific blast of wind and flood of rain suddenlyarrested his speech.

"Oh, my Cap! my dear Cap! I needn't threaten you! I shall never havethe chance to be cruel to you again--never! You'll perish in thisterrible storm and then--and then my tough old heart will break! Itwill--it will, Cap! But demmy, before it does, I'll break the necksof every man and woman, in this house, old and young! Hear it,heaven and earth, for I'll do it!"

All things must have an end. So, as the hours passed on, the stormhaving spent all its fury, gradually grumbled itself into silence.

Old Hurricane also raged himself into a state of exhaustion socomplete that when the midnight hour struck he could only drop intoa chair and murmur:

"Twelve o'clock and no news of her yet!"

And then unwillingly he went to bed, attended by Mrs. Condiment andPitapat instead of Wool, who was supposed to be out in search ofCapitola, but who was, in fact, fast asleep on the floor of a drycellar.

Meanwhile, where did this midnight hour find Capitola?

CHAPTER IV.

THE HIDDEN HOLLOW.

On every side the aspect was the same, All ruined, desolate, forlorn and savage, No hand or foot within the precinct came To rectify or ravage! Here Echo never mocked the human tongue; Some weighty crime that Heaven could not pardon. A secret curse on that old Building hung And its deserted garden!

--Hood's Haunted House.

Cap was a bit of a Don Quixote! The stirring incidents of the lastfew months had spoiled her; the monotony of the last few weeks hadbored her; and now she had just rode out in quest of adventures.

The Old Hidden House, with its mysterious traditions, its gloomysurroundings and its haunted reputation, had always possessed apowerful attraction for one of Cap's adventurous spirit. To seek andgaze upon the somber house, of which, and of whose inmates, suchterrible stories had been told or hinted, had always been a secretdesire and purpose of Capitola.

And now the presence there of a beautiful girl near her own age wasthe one last item that tipped the balance, making the temptation toride thither outweigh every other consideration of duty, prudenceand safety. And having once started on the adventure, Cap felt theattraction drawing her toward the frightful hollow of the HiddenHouse growing stronger with every step taken thitherward.

She reached the banks of the "Demon's Run" and took the left-handroad down the stream until she reached the left point of the Horse-Shoe Mountain, and then going up around the point, she kept closeunder the back of the range until she had got immediately in therear of the round bend of the "Horse Shoe," behind Hurricane Hall.

"Well," said Cap, as she drew rein here, and looked up at the loftyascent of gray rocks that concealed Hurricane Hall, "to have had tocome such a circuit around the outside of the 'Horse Shoe,' to findmyself just at the back of our old house, and no farther from homethan this! There's as many doubles and twists in these mountains asthere are in a lawyer's discourse! There, Gyp, you needn't turn backagain and pull at the bridle, to tell me that there is a stormcoming up and that you want to go home! I have no more respect foryour opinion than I have for Mrs. Condiment's. Besides, you carry adamsel-errant in quest of adventures, Gyp, and so you must on, Gyp--you must on!" said Capitola, forcibly pulling her horse's headaround, and then taking a survey of the downward path.

It was a scene fascinating from its very excess of gloom and terror!

It was a valley so deep and dark as to merit the name of the hollow,or hole, but for its great extent and its thick growth of forest,through which spectral-looking rocks gleamed, and moaning waterscould be heard but not seen.

"Now, somewhere in that thick forest, in the bottom of that vale,stands the house--well called the Hidden House, since not a chimneyof it can be seen even from this commanding height! But I supposethis path that leads down into the valley may conduct me to thebuilding! Come along, Gyp! You needn't turn up your head and pull atthe bit! You've got to go! I am bound this night to see the outsideof the Hidden House, and the window of the haunted chamber at thevery least!" said Cap, throwing her eyes up defiantly toward thedarkening sky, and putting whip to her unwilling horse.

As the path wound down into the valley the woods were found deeper,thicker and darker. It occupied all Cap's faculties to push her waythrough the overhanging and interlacing branches of the trees.

"Good gracious," she said, as she used her left arm rathervigorously to push aside the obstructions to her path, "one wouldthink this were the enchanted forest containing the castle of thesleeping beauty, and I was the knight destined to deliver her! I'msure it wouldn't have been more difficult."

Still deeper fell the path, thicker grew the forest and darker theway.

"Gyp, I'm under the impression that we shall have to turn back yet!"said Cap, dolefully stopping in the midst of a thicket so dense thatit completely blockaded her farther progress in the same direction.Just as she came to this very disagreeable conclusion she spied anopening on her left, from which a bridle-path struck out. With anexclamation of joy she immediately turned her horse's head andstruck into it. This path was very rocky, but in some degree clearerthan the other, and she went on quickly, singing to herself, untilgradually her voice began to be lost in the sound of many rushingwaters.

"It must be the Devil's Punch Bowl! I am approaching!" she said toherself, as she went on.

She was right. The roaring of the waters grew deafening and the pathbecame so rugged with jagged and irregularly piled rocks, that Capcould scarcely keep her horse upon his feet in climbing over them.And suddenly, when she least looked for it, the great naturalcuriosity--the Devil's Punch Bowl--burst upon her view!

It was an awful abyss, scooped out as it were from the very bowelsof the earth, with its steep sides rent open in dreadful chasms, andfar down in its fearful depths a boiling whirlpool of black waters.

Urging her reluctant steed through a thicket of stunted thorns andover a chaos of shattered rocks, Capitola approached as near as shesafely could to the brink of this awful pit. So absorbed was she ingazing upon this terrible phenomenon of natural scenery that she hadnot noticed, in the thicket on her right, a low hut that, with itsbrown-green moldering colors, fell so naturally in with the hue ofthe surrounding scenery as easily to escape observation. She did noteven observe that the sky was entirely overcast, and the thunder wasmuttering in the distance. She was aroused from her profound reverieby a voice near her asking:

"Who are you, that dares to come without a guide to the Devil'sPunch Bowl?"

Capitola looked around and came nearer screaming than she ever hadbeen in her life, upon seeing the apparition that stood before her.Was it man, woman, beast or demon? She could not tell! It was a verytall, spare form, with a black cloth petticoat tied around thewaist, a blue coat buttoned over the breast, and a black felt hattied down with a red handkerchief, shading the darkest old face shehad ever seen in her life.

"Who are you, I say, who comes to the Devil's Punch Bowl withoutleave or license?" repeated the frightful creature, shifting hercane from one hand to the other.

"I? I am Capitola Black, from Hurricane Hall; but who, in the nameof all the fates and furies, are you?" inquired Capitola, who, ingetting over the shock, had recovered her courage.

"I am Harriet the Seeress of Hidden Hollow!" replied the apparition,in a melodramatic manner that would not have discredited the queenof tragedy herself. "You have heard of me?"

"Yes, but I always heard you called Old Hat, the Witch," said Cap.

"The world is profane--give me your hand!" said the beldame,reaching out her own to take that of Capitola.

"Stop! Is your hand clean? It looks very black!"

"Cleaner than yours will be when it is stained with blood, youngmaiden!"

"Tut! If you insist on telling my fortune, tell me a pleasant one,and I will pay you double," laughed Capitola.

"The fates are not to be mocked. Your destiny will be that which thestars decree. To prove to you that I know this, I tell you that youare not what you have been!"

"You've hit it this time, old lady, for I was a baby once and now Iam a young girl!" said Cap, laughing.

"You will not continue to be that which you are now!" pursued thehag, still attentively reading the lines of her subject's hand.

"Right again; for if I live long enough I shall be an old woman."

"You bear a name that you will not bear long!"

"I think that quite a safe prophecy, as I haven't the most distantidea of being an old maid!"

"Now, do you know, I don't doubt that either? I believe italtogether probable that I shall have to cook my husband's dinnerand kill the chickens for his soup!"

"Girl, beware! You deride the holy stars--and already they areadverse to you!" said the hag, with a threatening glare.

"Ha, ha, ha! I love the beautiful stars but did not fear them I fearonly Him who made the stars!" "Poor butterfly, listen and beware!You are destined to imbrue that little hand in the life current ofone who loves you the most of all on earth! You are destined to riseby the destruction of one who would shed his heart's best blood foryou!" said the beldame, in an awful voice.

Capitola's eyes flashed! She advanced her horse a step or two nearerthe witch and raised her riding whip, saying:

"I protest! If you were only a man I should lay this ash over yourwicked shoulders until my arms ached! How dare you? Faith, I don'twonder that in the honest old times such pests as you were cooled inthe ducking pond! Good gracious, that must have made a hissing andspluttering in the water, though!"

"Blasphemer, pay me and begone!"

"Pay you? I tell you I would if you were only a man; but it would besinful to pay a wretched old witch in the only way you deserve to bepaid!" said Cap, flourishing her riding whip before a creature tallenough and strong enough to have doubled up her slight form togetherand hurled it into the abyss.

"Gold! gold!" said the hag curtly, holding out black and talon-likefingers, which she worked convulsively.

"Gold! gold, indeed! for such a wicked fortune! Not a penny!" saidCap.

"Ho! you're stingy; you do not like to part with the yellow demonthat has bought the souls of all your house!"

"Don't I? You shall see! There! If you want gold, go fish it fromthe depth of the whirlpool," said Cap, taking her purse and castingit over the precipice.

This exasperated the crone to frenzy.

"Away! Begone!" she cried, shaking her long arm at the girl. "Away!Begone! The fate pursues you! The badge of blood is stamped uponyour palm!"

"Fee--faw--fum" said Cap.

"Scorner! Beware! The curse of the crimson hand is upon you!"

--"'I smell the blood of an Englishman'"--continued Cap.

"Derider of the fates, you are foredoomed to crime!"

--"'Be he alive or be he dead, I'll have his brains to butter mybread!'" concluded Cap.

"Be silent!" shrieked the beldame.

"I won't!" said Cap. "Because you see, if we are in for thehorrible, I can beat you hollow at that!"

"Gyp, my son, that was old Nick's wife, who was with us just thisinstant, and now, indeed, Gyp, if we are to see the Hidden Housethis afternoon, we must get on!"

And so saying she followed the path that wound half-way around thePunch Bowl and then along the side of a little mountain torrentcalled the Spout, which, rising in an opposite mountain, leaped fromrock to rock, with many a sinuous turn, as it wound through thethicket that immediately surrounded the Hidden House until itfinally jetted through a subterranean channel into the Devil's PunchBowl.

Capitola was now, unconsciously, upon the very spot, where,seventeen years before, the old nurse had been forcibly stopped andcompelled to attend the unknown lady.

As Capitola pursued the path that wound lower and lower into thedark valley the gloom of the thicket deepened. Her thoughts ran onall the horrible traditions connected with the Hidden House andHollow--the murder and robbery of the poor peddler--the mysteriousassassination of Eugene Le Noir; the sudden disappearance of hisyouthful widow; the strange sights and sounds reported to be heardand seen about the mansion; the spectral light at the upper gablewindow; the white form seen flitting through the chamber; the palelady that in the dead of night drew the curtains of a guest thatonce had slept there; and above all Capitola thought of thebeautiful, strange girl, who was now an inmate of that sinful andaccursed house! And while these thoughts absorbed her mind,suddenly, in a turning of the path, she came full upon the gloomybuilding.

CHAPTER V.

THE HIDDEN HOUSE.

The very stains and fractures on the wall Assuming features solemn and terrific, Hinted some tragedy of that old hall Locked up in hieroglyphic! Prophetic hints that filled the soul with dread; But to one gloomy window pointing mostly, The while some secret inspiration said, That chamber is the ghostly!

--Hood.

The Hidden House was a large, irregular edifice of dark redsandstone with its walls covered closely with the clinging ivy, thathad been clipped away only from a few of the doors and windows, andits roof over-shadowed by the top branches of gigantic oaks and elmsthat clustered around and nearly concealed the building.

It might have been a long-forsaken house, for any sign of humanhabitation that was to be seen about it. All was silent, solitaryand gloomy.

As Capitola drew up her horse to gaze upon its somber walls shewondered which was the window at which the spectral light andghostly face had been seen. She soon believed that she had found it.

At the highest point of the building, immediately under the sharpangle of the roof, in the gable and nearest to view, was a solitarywindow. The ivy that clung tightly to the stone, covering everyportion of the wall at this end, was clipped away from that highplaced, dark and lonely window by which Capitola's eyes werestrangely fascinated.

While thus she gazed in wonder, interest and curiosity, thoughwithout the least degree of superstitious dread, a vision flashedupon her sight that sent the blood from her ruddy cheek to her braveheart, and shook the foundations of her unbelief!

For while she gazed, suddenly that dark window was illumed by astrange, unearthly light that streamed forth into the gloomy eveningair, and touched with blue flame the quivering leaves of every treein its brilliant line! In the midst of this lighted window appeareda white female face wild with woe! And then the face suddenlyvanished and the light was swallowed up in darkness!

Capitola remained transfixed!

"Great heavens!" she thought, "can these things really be! Have theghostly traditions of this world truth in them at last? When I heardthis story of the haunted window I thought some one had surelyimagined or invented it! Now I have seen for myself; but if I wereto tell what I have seen not one in a hundred would believe me!"

While these startling thoughts disturbed her usual well-balancedmind, a vivid flash of lightning, accompanied by a tremendous pealof thunder and a heavy fall of rain, roused her into renewedactivity.

"Gyp, my boy, the storm is upon us sure enough! We shall catch itall around, get well drowned, beaten and buffeted here and wellabused when we get home! Meantime, Gyp, which is the worst, the fullfury of the tempest or the mysterious terrors of the Haunted House!"

Another blinding flash of lightning, a stunning crash of thunder, aflood of rain and tornado of wind decided her.

"We'll take the Haunted House, Gyp, my friend! That spectral lady ofthe lighted window looked rather in sorrow than in anger, and whoknows but the ghosts may be hospitable? So gee up, Dobbin!" saidCapitola, and, urging her horse with one hand and holding on her capwith the other, she went on against wind and rain until she reachedthe front of the old house.

Not a creature was to be seen; every door and window was closelyshut. Dismounting, Capitola led her horse under the shelter of athickly leaved oak tree, secured him, and then holding up hersaturated skirt with one hand and holding on her cap with the other,she went up some moldering stone steps to an old stone portico and,seizing the heavy iron knocker of a great black oak double door, sheknocked loudly enough to awaken all the mountain echoes.

She waited a few minutes for an answer, but receiving none, sheknocked again, more loudly than before. Still there was no reply.And growing impatient, she seized the knocker with both hands andexerting all her strength, made the welkin ring again!

This brought a response. The door was unlocked and angrily jerkedopen by a short, squarely formed, beetle-browed, stern-lookingwoman, clothed in a black stuff gown and having a stiff muslin capupon her head.

"Who are you? What do you want here?" harshly demanded this woman,whom Capitola instinctively recognized as Dorky Knight, the morosehousekeeper of the Hidden House.

"Who am I? What do I want? Old Nick fly away with you! It's plainenough to be seen who I am and what I want. I am a young womancaught out in the storm and I want shelter!" said Cap, indignantly.And her words were endorsed by a terrific burst of the tempest inlightning, thunder, wind and rain!

"Come in then and when you ask favors learn to keep a civil tonguein your head!" said the woman sternly, taking the guest by the handand pulling her in and shutting and locking the door.

"Favors! Plague on you for a bearess! I asked no favor! Every storm-beaten traveler has a right to shelter under the first roof thatoffers, and none but a curmudgeon would think of calling it a favor!And as for keeping a civil tongue in my head, I'll do it when youset me the example!" said Cap.

"Who are you?" again demanded the woman.

"Oh, I see you are no Arabian in your notions of hospitality! Thosepagans entertain a guest without asking him a single question; andthough he were their bitterest foe, they consider him while he restsbeneath their tent sacred from intrusion."

"That's because they were pagans!" said Dorky. "But as I am aChristian, I'd thank you to let me know who it is that I havereceived under this roof."

"My name," said our heroine, impatiently, "is Capitola Black! I livewith my uncle, Major Warfield, at Hurricane Hall! And now, I shouldthank your ladyship to send some one to put away my horse, while youyourself accommodate me with dry clothes."

"Yes, Capitola! That is my name! You never heard anything againstit, did you?"

For all answer the woman seized her hand, and while the lightningflashed and the thunder rolled, and the wind and rain beat down, shedrew her the whole length of the hall before a back window thatoverlooked the neglected garden, and, regardless of the electricfluid that incessantly blazed upon them, she held her there andscrutinized her features.

"Well, I like this! Upon my word, I do!" said Cap, composedly.

Without replying, the strange woman seized her right hand, forciblyopened it, gazed upon the palm and then, flinging it back with ashudder, exclaimed:

"Capitola, what brought you under this roof? Away! Begone! Mountyour horse and fly while there is yet time!"

"What! expose myself again to the storm? I won't, and that's flat!"said Cap.

"Girl! girl! there are worse dangers in the world than any to befeared from thunder, lightning, rain or wind!"

"Very well, then, when I meet them it will be time enough to dealwith them! Meanwhile the stormy night and my soaked clothing arevery palpable evils, and as I see no good end to be gained by mylonger enduring them, I will just beg you to stop soothsaying--(as Ihave had enough of that from another old witch)--and be as good asto permit me to change my clothes!"

"It is madness! You shall not stay here!" cried the woman, in aharsh voice.

"And I tell you I will! You are not the head of the family, and I donot intend to be turned out by you!"

While she spoke a servant crossed the hall and the woman, whiskingCapitola around until her back was turned and her face concealed,went to speak to the newcomer.

"When will your master be here?" Capitola heard her inquire.

"Not to-night; he saw the storm rising and did not wish to exposehimself. He sent me on to say that he would not be here untilmorning. I was caught, as you see! I am dripping wet," replied theman.

"Go, change your clothes at once then, Davy,"

"Who is that stranger?" asked the man, pointing to Capitola.

"Some young woman of the neighborhood, who has been caught out inthe tempest. But you had better go and change your clothes than tostand here gossiping," said the woman, harshly.

"I say," said the man, "the young woman is a God-send to Miss Clara;nobody has been to see her yet; nobody ever visits this house unlessthey are driven to it. I don't wonder the colonel and our youngmaster pass as much as ten months in the year away from home,spending all the summer at the watering places, and all the winterin New York or Washington!"

"Hold your tongue! What right have you to complain? You alwaysattend them in their travels!"

"True, but you see for this last season they have both been stayinghere, old master to watch the heiress, young master to court her,and as I have no interest in that game, I find the time hangs heavyon my hands," complained the man.

"It will hang heavier if you take a long fit of illness by standingin wet clothes," muttered the woman.

"Why, so 'twill, missus! So here goes," assented the man, hurryingacross the hall and passing out through the door opposite that bywhich he entered.

Dorcas returned to her guest.

Eying her closely for a while, she at length inquired:

"Capitola, how long have you lived at Hurricane Hall?"

"So long," replied Cap, "that you must have heard of me! I, atleast, have often heard of Mother Dorkey Knight."

"And heard no good of her!"

"Well, no--to be candid with you, I never did," said Cap.

"And much harm of her?" continued the woman, keeping her stern blackeyes fixed upon those of her guest.